Statement of Tanzania, September 2016

Mr. President; gender equality and women empowerment has now become an enduring theme of mankind's pursuit for equality and justice, a scale for measuring social progress, and an important goal in realizing sustainable Development. Women's political and economic participation in leadership roles and decision making strengthens democracy, equality and the economy. This is the essence of Goal 5. Moreover, while women's empowerment and full participation in society are important goals in themselves, they are vital for reducing poverty, achieving universal education, improving maternal and child health, and fulfilling other development goals. Economic empowerment is also a strategic tool to expand women's political participation and leadership. Without the capacity to generate their own incomes, women face considerable barriers to reaching the higher levels of education, health care and the autonomy to participate in politics. Collectively, and universally, women represent more than half of human resource, potential skills and talents available to human kind. Tanzania is committed to promoting women empowerment at all levels. We are striving to engage more women in formal sectors through capacity building programs and advocacy. We have removed discriminatory laws and policies to empower women including reforming our land laws to permit inheritance and equal access to land for all.

Tanzania has continued to take actions to ensure more representation of women in decision making. During the 2010 general elections 126 women were elected whereas 2015 elections the number increased to 142 which constitutes 36.9 percent of all parliamentarians. It was during the 2015 elections that, President Magufuli elected the first ever woman Vice-President of the United Republic of Tanzania which happened to be me. This reaffirms my country's determination to see more women on key decision making positions and to continue scaling up these initiatives in Tanzania women empowerment is now owned by the women themselves. Mr. President; Goal 16 of the SDGs recognizes that corruption undermines efforts to combat poverty and gender inequality.